The night baker

For some strange reason, I am now quite keen on baking. I watched a lot of Australian Junior Masterchef Season 1 on Starworld when I was on medical leave. Although I couldn't see very clearly, I could manage to follow the show. Thereafter, I started to explore cooking on my terms. What are my terms? Read on.

I tried to do some traditional cooking - soup, fu yong egg and pork balls. That was my only attempt at making a meal for the family. I ended up putting too many prawns into the soup and the egg. The pork balls turned out alright.

After that, I attempted to do some baking using a miserably small oven which my mom gave me before. It's one of those which do not have a good seal so there is a small gap between the oven and its door when the door is closed. The thermostat is not near precision. That's my excuse for my failed attempts at baking scones and a chocolate cake. The cake turned out undercooked and the scones ended up like cookies.

I tried the chocolate cake again and it turned out alright. Not great but alright. The scones turned out ugly, still looked like cookies, but tasted better. So I decided to invest in this new hobby. I bought a proper oven. It came with multiple pre-set modes and a big steamer which can be used in the oven.

The day after I bought the oven, I had to leave for a 2 week work trip overseas. I came back and tried the oven. It was pretty cool. The scones still turned out ugly but tasted better. It is probably not due to my oven. I actually tried to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. I think I will try to use top flour next time. Top flour is in between cake flour and all-purpose flour in terms of protein content. I read that in a cook book.

With work, and my unstoppable enthusiasm, I baked at night when I got home from work. Hubby was laughing about it. I tried to make sesame cookies. Had to prepare the dough at night and then leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Then I baked it early in the morning, before I left for work.

I tried to make a vanilla chiffon cake yesterday. Twice. Both were failures. The first attempt was pathetic. The cake tasted funny and I suspect it was because I didn't mix the ingredients well. The second cake tasted better but was flat. Not very chiffon like. I need to try again with another method. The recipe called for folding and I obviously can't fold very well. Cut, fold, turn. Cut, fold, turn.

I am not going to turn this into a cooking blog because there are many of those around. But I'll keep you posted of my attempts. I'm not giving up yet.....